Milwaukee Bankruptcy Judge’s Unprecedented Decision Significantly Harms Archdiocese, Even More Than Victims of Clergy Abuse

SNAP Wisconsin
April 5, 2012

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In a devastating blow not only to victim/survivors but to Catholics and the public, Judge Susan V. Kelley ruled today that the testimony of bishops Rembert Weakland and Richard Sklba will remain under court seal. All other church bankruptcies, including the most recent this year in Wilmington, DE, have resulted in the public release of internal church abuse files, once victims’ names and identities have been removed.

Archbishop Weakland and his deputy Bishop Sklba oversaw and enabled the rape and sexual assault of countless children in our community. Their depositions, and some 50,000 pages of documents which record a quarter of a century of criminal activity will, at least for now, and perhaps permanently, be kept concealed not only from victims and their families, but also, and perhaps even more importantly, from Catholics in the archdiocese.

Breaking ranks with all other church bankruptcy judges in the US, Kelley suggested that releasing the depositions and documents would somehow violate victim confidentiality, although that has never occurred in a single instance, and can easily be remedied by redacting victims’ names and identities. She also said that the depositions were “scandalous” and would “embarrass” bishops who covered up these crimes, particularly Weakland.

It is perhaps fitting that on Holy Thursday, the day Christians commemorate the betrayal of Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, that Archbishop Listecki once again betrayed not only victims of clergy sexual abuse, but the Catholics he is entrusted to shepherd. It was just last week that Listecki rightly prostrated himself upon the altar at St. Francis Cabrini Parish, an act of atonement for the clergy sexual abuse crisis that has plagued the Milwaukee archdiocese for decades. Victims pleaded with Listecki to drop his opposition to today’s motion, and allow the depositions of his predecessors to be publically released.

St. Peter, according to the Gospel story that Christians will read and reflect upon today all over the world, three times directly denied knowledge of Jesus as Jesus was being sent away to his execution. Yet, Peter, who “wept bitterly” upon realizing his cowardice is, mysteriously, the first successor in authority to Christ, according to Catholics, and the Chair of St. Peter in Rome around which the entire church gathers.

It is never too late for the archdiocese to release these documents, including to law enforcement authorities who need to see them, such as the Wisconsin Attorney General, to experience the shame of their betrayal and denial, and weep as Peter did for not standing up for innocence. Only by openly admitting his failings and turning back to the truth could Peter assume the leadership Christ entrusted to him. Where Saint Peter once sat now the Pope sits: a reminder this sad day of Holy Week for Catholics of the Archdiocese, that our church leaders are more than capable of turning away from the truth and yet can always find their way back to it.

SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 23 years and have more than 10,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Visit us at SNAPnetwork.org and SNAPwisconsin.com.